STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island man is accusing his ex-wife, who's a prominent matrimonial lawyer, of secretly divorcing him and tricking him into signing a post-nuptial agreement so she could keep her house and assets.

James A. Ruggiero, a 62-year-old fashion photographer and retired corrections officer, makes the allegations in a lawsuit that he filed against Anne-Louise DePalo, 52, in state Supreme Court on Staten Island last month.

He and Ms. DePalo married in 2004, in a Valentine's Day ceremony in Tarrytown, according to court documents.

On Sept. 27, 2007, she filed divorce paperwork, "unbeknownst to (Ruggiero)," according to the lawsuit. Ruggiero claims he was never served papers summoning him to court, nor was he notified when she filed an amended summons more than a year later.

Ruggiero cites poor mental and physical health as a reason for signing the post-nup on Feb. 20, 2008.

He told the Advance that his mental health suffered from has experiences during a 1979 riot in Rikers Island, and from an experience from decades ago where an armed robber held a gun to his head and pulled the trigger on an empty chamber.

Under the agreement, Ruggiero forfeits any interest in her law practice, and Ms. DePalo keeps sole title to their home on the 700 block of West Fingerboard Road in Grasmere - which public records show she bought in 1999 for $385,000, with a $308,000 mortgage - and a Nissan Xterra.

She would also keep hold of several IRAs and accounts under the agreement.

He would keep a Jaguar coupe in his name, his corrections department pension, his photography business, a plot of vacant residential land in Sullivan County, and any future earnings from a project called "The Fantastics."

His online biography lists him as the producer of a documentary about the long-running Broadway musical, "The Fantasticks."

The post-nup claims Ms. DePalo makes $200,000 annually, compared to Ruggiero's $12,000 annual income, and, according to the lawsuit, Ruggiero wasn't given documentation of her assets.

Before the execution of the post-nup, Ms. DePalo told Ruggiero "she contemplated being married to (him) forever" and "she would always be fair and never take financial advantage of him," and the document's singing "was merely a ministerial act to protect him," the lawsuit alleges.

Ms. DePalo did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Ruggiero is seeking to set aside the post-nup and vacate the divorce judgment, receive "an equitable distribution of all marital assets," alimony and lawyer's fees, and get punitive damages.